The Moonlight Carries a Message
by NeoVenus22
Summary: A shower of plum blossoms. An promise with the weight of armageddon. The moonlight carries a message...
1. Chapter One

Yes, another new story. And dare I say, I've actually created a new character. Horrors! This chapter's really short, but I suppose you could call it a prologue. New chapters will be up shortly, I promise.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
Post-Stars action.  
  
*** ***  
  
"Ohayo, minna-san...we have a new student at Juuban today. Please say hello to Tsukishiro Umeko."  
  
"Ohayo, Tsukishiro-san!" Tsukino Usagi's class chorused obediently.  
  
"Psst! Psst, Usagi-chan!" Across the aisle, Aino Minako was flashing her pencil about. Before Usagi knew what was happening, a square of pink paper had appeared on her desk.  
  
She unfolded it.  
  
U*sa*gi!  
Be careful! New students at Juuban are rarely what they seem. Ami, Mako, and I will keep an eye on her for you.  
Ai no megami, Mina-chan ^^v  
  
Usagi glanced quickly at Minako, but the blond was already immersed in her work. Usagi tugged absently at a pigtail and squinted at her own worksheet, wondering when Minako had started thinking less like a bubblehead and more like a senshi.  
  
But she had a point, that fact Usagi couldn't ignore. Almost all new students at Juuban were somehow related to the never-ending legacy of the Sailorsenshi. They were either on the side of good, or the side of evil.  
  
Usagi looked over Osaka Naru's shoulder at the new girl, filing into a seat in the back row. She had long hair of a magenta color, swinging back and forth in time with her navy skirt, and purple eyes, the color of fine wine.  
  
As Tsukishiro passed, she glanced at Usagi without ever turning her head. The look in her dark eyes was unreadable, and Usagi felt a chill run over her spine.  
  
She hoped this new student fought for good. 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
*****  
  
"She's very pretty," Mizuno Ami was saying as Minako and Usagi approached for lunch.  
  
"I know..." Kino Makoto gushed, starry-eyed. "Such pretty hair...ara, I'm jealous..."  
  
"Mako-chan, you're so pretty!" Usagi squealed, sitting down and giving Makoto's ponytail an affectionate pull.  
  
"Arigatou. But the real issue here is the new girl. You know what new students often turn out to be."  
  
"What do new students often turn out to be?" a melodic voice inquired above them. The four senshi tilted their faces skywards, and found themselves focusing on the new girl herself.  
  
"Ara...konnichiwa..." Usagi stammered nervously, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Tsukishiro-san, ne?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
"Tsukishiro-san, sit down," Minako said pleasantly.  
  
"Arigatou!" Tsukishiro enthused, and sat in the circle the schoolgirls had created. "Please, call me Umeko."  
  
"Hai, Umeko-san!" Ami, Makoto, and Minako chorused with smiles, but Usagi couldn't erase the nervousness bubbling in her stomach and no doubt evident on her face.  
  
The girl with the dark eyes looked to Usagi then. "Our last names both feature the moon," she commented, and while Usagi struggled to come up with a reply, Tsukishiro winked and fed some noodles into her mouth.  
  
"Hai, hai!" Makoto said cheerfully. "Usagi-chan's our own little moon rabbit."  
  
"*Tsuki*shiro *U*meko, *Tsuki*no *U*sagi," Tsukishiro stressed, almost as if she hadn't heard the brunette. "Odd, isn't it?"  
  
"Um...hai..." Usagi said with a shaky laugh. The new student was definitely creepy, and it was scaring the Moon Princess. How was she supposed to react to this? Just who was Tsukishiro Umeko?  
  
"Do you have a boyfriend, Tsukino-san?"  
  
"Ara...watashi..."  
  
"Hai, she does, but he's in the United States," Minako broke in quickly. "We never introduced ourselves, did we? I'm Aino Minako, that's Kino Makoto, and that's Mizuno Ami."  
  
"Hai," Tsukishiro said in an odd, detached voice. "Aino-san, star of the volleyball team. Kino-san, famous for both her tomboyish nature and her incredible culinary skill. Mizuno-san, top student in Minato-ku and most likely all of Japan, not to mention the nation's top chess player."  
  
The senshis of wood, water, and love blinked in surprise.  
  
"Ara...I do my studying," Tsukishiro said, reverting again to her normal voice and waving her hand about. "So tell me, Tsukino-san, what do you do in your free time?"  
  
"Well, I like to go to the arcade..." 


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
*****  
  
The odango-haired rabbit of the moon had taken quite a liking to Tsukishiro by the end of the lunch period, and they walked into the school side by side, talking animatedly.  
  
Usagi's three close friends followed behind, a bit miffed at being dismissed, but mostly wondering about the new student. "It's quite odd that she knew so much about each of us, and yet kept pestering Usagi-chan for personal details," Ami noted.  
  
"She knew Usagi-chan's name..." Minako said slowly, "but Usagi never introduced herself to her."  
  
"And remember her voice when she was telling what she knew about us?" Makoto said. "It was kind of robotic...like she'd been fed the details."  
  
"So you think she's working for someone?" Ami asked.  
  
"How could that be?" Minako said. "We don't even know exactly who she is."  
  
"Minna-chan..." Makoto said softly. "I don't really trust her."  
  
"Neither do I," Minako answered.  
  
*  
  
Tsukino Usagi...the Messiah of Light. She was the one who gained her powers from the moon, who fought for the Earth.  
  
The chosen one.  
  
Her destiny in the ends of the Earth was as foreordained as the apocalypse itself. Only two would play a part in the final act, but first the other players would have to be eliminated.  
  
It all fell together in a specific circle. There was wood, the thick barrier. It protected the ocean and the sky, the two of which interlocked and became one on the horizon. From there came the basics of water and fire. Then the three unifying elements: Love, Time, and Death.  
  
A shadow waved its dark hand. The pixilated image of Kino Makoto appeared before it. The first to go. 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
*****  
  
Alone in her apartment that night, as she was every night, Makoto tried to figure out what was so unsettling about the new student. On the surface she seemed very nice, but Makoto knew there was something up. And her fascination with Usagi wasn't a good sign. Then again, Mamoru had always somehow ended up around Usagi, and there was Haruka, and Seiya... People just naturally gravitated to Usagi. She had a good heart and a good soul and this *radience* to her.  
  
"Maybe," Makoto mused, running the water in the shower as she prepared for bed, "maybe we're just being paranoid about Tsukishiro-san."  
  
As she stepped in the shower and soaped herself down, the simplicity of it all became more clear. Tsukishiro was just drawn to Usagi's friendliness like everyone else. She was a bit creepy, but didn't everyone find Ami and Makoto creepy when they'd started at Juuban?  
  
Well, some kids still did find them creepy. But that was irrelevant.  
  
"She could really go either way," Makoto said to herself. She shut off the water and brushed her wet bangs out of her eyes, fumbling for the edge of the shower curtain. "Evil...or good. It's fifty-fifty."  
  
Makoto pulled open the curtain and found herself met with a shower of cherry blossoms. Makoto blinked, waving her arms wildly in a feeble attempt to ward off the harmless blossoms.  
  
And they really were harmless, she discovered, as they simply fell to the floor in clumps, dampened by steam clouds.  
  
The real danger lay in the person who had caused the blossom hurricane. Who stoodin front of her, a shadowed figure in the open bathroom door. Makoto had nothing to cover herself and was too confused and stunned to even step behind the meager protection of the shower curtain.  
  
She was a fighter at heart, and the Jupiter side of her personality took over where her regular instincts failed. Without a second thought, she stepped out of the shower, feet brushing up against wet piles of soft petals. A few stray ones danced through the air, twisting and turning with the air currents spasmodically, fighting gravity. Makoto, without even looking to see what she was doing, reached out a hand and snatched the petals.  
  
She uncurled her fingers and glanced at them. She was torn in two; the grip of horror and the urge to say 'I told you so'.  
  
Not cherry, *plum*. Plum blossoms. Umeko.  
  
The lights in the bathroom went out, casting Makoto in darkness. She both embraced its protection and feared what sort of edge it gave her faceless adversary.  
  
Moonlight streamed through the small window in the corner. Into the square it cast on the floor stepped the bringer of the blossoms, glowing preternaturally. Tsukishiro Umeko.  
  
"It's a bit of a cheat, really," the pretty student said, as if she'd been reading Makoto's mind. She spoke calmly, easily, and with a charming smile that held no venom or any hint of malevolence, but still set Makoto on edge. "My signature is the umeko, and my power is amplified in the moonlight." Her smile grew larger, and more enigmatic. "Then again, your name means 'sincerity of wood', doesn't it? Demo..."  
  
Tsukishiro stepped closer, out of the square of moonlight, but yet the lunar glow still clung to her. Makoto tensed, feeling the cold rush of Tsukishiro's breath on her still wet skin. "You used to fight with electricity, didn't you, Jupiter?"  
  
"Who *are* you?" Makoto asked softly.  
  
"Who I am depends on who the moon child will become. Will she fight to protect Earth, or destroy it?"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous. Sailormoon fights *for* Earth and *only* for Earth. She'd never destroy it. She'd die first."  
  
"That may be the case this time, as well," Tsukishiro said, and placed a hand on Makoto's bare shoulder. Her touch was icy cold. "But you never know, Sailormoon might have a change of heart...a different future. She might choose to destroy the earth, thus saving it."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Your little friend from the ringed planet knows best...from death comes rebirth. From the apocalypse can only come redemption. Renewal. Sailormoon can do more good for the earth by killing it than she ever could by fighting on its behalf."  
  
Makoto laughed, shortly, harshly, and without mirth as Tsukishiro slowly circled her, as the predator would circle the prey. "Sounds to me like you've been reading too many CLAMP mangas."  
  
"There's truth in my words, Jupiter-san, and you know it. Deep down in your heart, you know it." Tsukishiro finished her lap around Makoto, and held the brunette's chin in one hand, forcing the women to look at each other. "Demo...it's not you I have to convince. Only the moon child. And unfortunately for you, Kino-san, you're only a minor character."  
  
"Oh, am I really?" Makoto scoffed. "Watch me." In her hand appeared her henshin wand, and she raised it high, opening her mouth to evoke the transformation, but Tsukishiro interrupted her.  
  
"Jupiter Crystal Power," she said with the laziest of smiles. "Make-up."  
  
There was a flash of light, and Tsukishiro stood before Makoto, dressed in the green fuku of Sailorjupiter.  
  
"What the hell..?" Makoto said, her arm lowering as her brain tried to compute. As it descended, Tsukishiro plucked the henshin wand from Makoto's hand. "Very pretty," she pronounced, studying it over. "Pity you couldn't use it this last time.  
  
"Oh well," she sighed, "it wouldn't have mattered. Do you know why?"  
  
Makoto said nothing.  
  
"Jupiter," Tsukishiro said very softly, leaning in so Makoto could hear properly. Although Makoto could barely hear anything over the rush of blood in her brain. "Oak," Tsukishiro continued, with a wide, cheery grin. "Evolution."  
  
The cheer turned to malice, the grin now maniacal and demonic in nature, and Makoto was still in a state of shock, unable to even scream as her own attack --*her own attack*-- pierced her body. 


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
*****  
  
The false transformation faded from Umeko's body as the corpse fell. She smirked. A lot of evil could be done with the massive power the senshi had. Pity that Umeko herself couldn't claim the power for very long.  
  
Outside, some clouds passed in front of the moon, and as the room darkened, the effervescence passed from Tsukishiro's skin, and she faded into the shadows like everything else, her power spent.  
  
She turned on the lights.  
  
Makoto lay, battered and broken, naked amidst fallen plum blossoms. If it wasn't so bloody, it would have been a beautiful artistic tableau, Umeko thought with a wry smile. If only she was a painter.  
  
"Kaioh Michiru is a painter," Umeko remembered suddenly. "And isn't she my next target?"  
  
Umeko's voice deepened, and she answered her own question. "One of two. The horizon."  
  
Umeko smiled cheerfully. "Of course, I forgot."  
  
She bent over Makoto's prone form, and kissed the still-warm lips softly. The symbol of Jupiter glowed green on the victim's forehead. Umeko put the heel of her hand against the symbol, pressing until the warmth from the corpse receded, and Umeko radiated slightly green herself in the overhead lights as the body of Kino Makoto, in a makeshift coffin of plum blossoms, disappeared.  
  
Umeko shut off the lights and exited the house the same way she'd come in. The wooden barrier had been chopped down. 


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
*****  
  
The next day Usagi exploded through the classroom door as if a cannon had personally shot her through. "Gomen! Gomen!" she panted, running to her seat and collapsing in it.  
  
Sensei shook her head ruefully. "Chapter three in your English book, Tsukino."  
  
"Hai, hai." Still breathing slightly hard, Usagi obediently opened her book and followed along with the rest of the class. She was interrupted abruptly by a sharp poke to the small of her back.  
  
Usagi slipped her hand to waist level, and held it out behind her back, palm up, to intercept the note.  
  
U*sa*gi!  
Have you seen Mako-chan today? I'm worried she might be sick. Also, she was supposed to call me last night, and never did. I'd expect that from *you*, but not her.  
Ai no megami, Mina-chan  
  
Usagi made a face at the reference to her less-than-stellar attention span, but nonetheless she was worried. Makoto almost never got sick, and the last time she did, the Black Moon had pulled some stunts.  
  
But there was nothing she could really do about it, except maybe call up the Tenoh-Kaioh-Meiou-Tomoe household and ask to borrow Hotaru for an hour or so...  
  
Then again, she was pretty sure Hotaru's healing power only dealt with visible wounds, like sores or cuts. Colds most likely weren't in her range of expertise. And since she was so young, she was susceptible to the germs. Then there was the matter that Haruka was likely to kill Usagi for abuse of power.  
  
So that was out, meaning that there really wasn't anything she could do.  
  
The bell rang, and Usagi beckoned for Ami and Minako's attention. "I was thinking maybe we could drop by the grocery after school, and get some things for Mako-chan. If she has the flu or something, then she won't have much energy to cook for herself."  
  
"Good idea, Usagi-chan," Minako said. "Maybe we could rent her some videos. The Sailor V movie just came out on DVD."  
  
"Oh, the shameless self-promotion," Usagi said with a smile.  
  
"Ohayo, tachi!" Umeko interrupted perkily.  
  
"Ohayo, Umeko-san," Ami and Minako answered politely. Usagi greeted her new friend with an enthusiastic smile.  
  
"What's this about the Sailor V movie? It's my favorite!"  
  
"Mine, too!" Usagi cheered.  
  
"We're taking it and some food to Mako-chan's after school," Ami explained. "She's out sick."  
  
"Probably the flu," Usagi said.  
  
"Hai, hai, that's going around," Umeko said, nodding sagely. "My little brother Shingo has it."  
  
"Shingo?" Minako asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow at Ami.  
  
"Hai. I call him Shin-chan after Crayon Shin-Chan."  
  
"My little brother's name is Shingo!" Usagi cried out.  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"Iie."  
  
"That's the weirdest thing ever!" Umeko squealed. "You know what this means, right?"  
  
"Nani?" Ami asked, the slightest bit of sarcasm tinging her tone.  
  
"It's fate. We are *destined* to be friends."  
  
"Oh, that seems unlikely," Minako remarked under her breath. She was a big believer in fate, and she knew for a fact that she was destined to be friends with Usagi and the rest of the senshi, but she just didn't trust Tsukishiro.  
  
Usagi, however, didn't hear the comment, and responded with enthusiasm, "It must be fate!"  
  
"You know, I brought some homemade avocado rolls," Umeko said, leading Usagi out of the room. "Want to have lunch together?"  
  
"Hai!" Usagi said cheerfully, and the pair exited the room.  
  
Ami and Minako looked at each other. "I don't trust her," Minako said decisively.  
  
"Not at all," Ami agreed, with such vehemance that Minako had never heard from her soft-spoken friend before.  
  
"Should we contact the others?"  
  
"Rei-chan, obviously," Ami said, "but not the Outers. They'll say we're paranoid."  
  
"These from the people who couldn't trust a pop group," Minako remarked with mild distaste.  
  
"Well, you know, Seiya-tachi weren't exactly the most...er...*pleasant* people to be around, you know. And as senshi, they were a bit angry."  
  
"They're a *pop* group, Ami-chan! They're on a different level from regular humans." Minako sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes as if the super-smart Ami was displaying less than normal intelligence for not realizing this.  
  
"Oh, of course. I should have remembered that. Gomen." Minako didn't hear or chose to ignore the sarcasm found in the reply.  
  
"We'll call a senshi meeting after school today."  
  
"We're visiting Mako-chan after school, remember?"  
  
"We'll have it at Mako-chan's house, then," Ami improvised. "But don't tell Usagi-chan. She'll go ballistic that we don't like her new best friend."  
  
"That's going to bite her in the ass later," Minako predicted with a sigh. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: The characters of the BSSM universe aren't mine, so don't sue. Umeko Tsukishiro, however, is. Why you'd want to use her is beyond me, but you can't.  
  
*****  
  
After school, Usagi met up with Ami and Minako, already halfway to the grocery. "Minna! You didn't wait," Usagi said with a pout.  
  
"We waited fifteen minutes, but you were with Tsukishiro the whole time," Minako said darkly.  
  
"Gomen nasai, but she wanted to show me pictures of Boston. She's been there, can you believe it? It's very pretty there. Mamo-chan must be having a great time."  
  
Ami smiled at Usagi, not willing to get in yet another fight about the blond's horrific habits of not showing up where and when she was supposed to. "Rei-chan's going to meet us at Mako-chan's in half an hour," was all she said.  
  
"Gomen, I can't stay long. I have to babysit Shingo-kun tonight."  
  
"That's all right," Minako said easily, thinking they could have a better meeting if Usagi wasn't there, getting indignant about their mistrust. "I can't imagine any of us will be staying long anyway. She's probably contagious."  
  
"Hai, hai," Usagi said. They ducked into the grocery.  
  
*  
  
Rei paced back and forth impatiently at the corner of Makoto's block. She checked her watch for what seemed like the hundreth time, but only a few seconds had passed. And it was still early. Still, she couldn't quell a nervous feeling that amplified with every second that her friends were gone.  
  
"I'll give them another minute," she told herself, "then I'll go up to Mako-chan's without them. They'll show up soon."  
  
"GOMEN, REI-CHAN!" came the frantic cry as Usagi came running up. A few steps behind followed Minako and Ami, laden with bags.  
  
"Usagi-chan went a little free sample crazy," Ami said.  
  
"Big surprise there," Rei said as they started for Makoto's apartment building.  
  
"Have you been waiting long?" Minako asked.  
  
"A few minutes. Minna..." Rei hesitated, not wanting to spoil the cheerful mood. The sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm, a few steps ahead Usagi was skipping and humming.  
  
Her pause was too long, and Ami and Minako stopped in their tracks, looking at her with concern. "Nani?" Minako asked softly.  
  
"Rei-chan, daijoubu ka?" Ami asked.  
  
"I have a bad feeling, is all," Rei said, pursing her lips. "I don't know why. But my guess is that it ties in with why you guys wanted to call the meeting."  
  
"I'd be willing to bet on that," Ami said.  
  
"Minna! What's the hold up?"  
  
The senshis of fire, water, and love looked ahead to see that Usagi was already at the front door of Makoto's building. "In a bit of a hurry, isn't she?" Rei cracked.  
  
Minako and Ami smiled, and the three girls followed Usagi quickly. 


End file.
